


VCST, Meet the Classics!

by Despacit_oof



Series: VCST [2]
Category: Actually Stephen, DanPlan, Video Blogging RPF, actuallyoddplan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Comedy, Gavin’s a teasing lil shit, Humor, M/M, Worldbuilding, Y’all liked this ideas so here we go, also it’s 3am so chill, also like- idk how far I’ll go with Stosuh here, and it’s great, at least for some of it, but hey this is a side story oop, chatfic, idk I wrote this for everyone’s fun, ish, it’s much more focal in the main fic, lil bit of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:46:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23943316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Despacit_oof/pseuds/Despacit_oof
Summary: So I had the idea about having the classic versions of the gang meet thier AU selves from my fic ‘Violet Crow on Silver Trails’ (VCST)... I asked if people would want to see it, they said yes - so here we are!Let’s see what happens~
Relationships: Hosuh Lee & Stephen Ng, Hosuh Lee/Stephen Ng
Series: VCST [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726015
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	1. Parallax

**Author's Note:**

> Heya- Welcome to this side-story thing! Let’s have fun with this, shall we?  
> Do note that I’m going to prioritize updating the main story, so updates here are gonna be less consistent / (probably) less frequent. Also - none of this is canon to VCST- I’ll do an accurate job portraying them, but keep the non-canon thing in mind. 
> 
> With that out of the way, enjoy this mess!

It was just any old evening when the news reached Stephen’s ears. The purple-haired man was scrolling through chatroom after chatroom, sifting through an endless sea of messages, many of which were questions for him or his brother - that was normal, all the same chaotic noise as always. The other domineer of the messages were simply comments of joy and praise, pats on the back for a job well done that made the mohawked man smile - or at least feel good even when it didn’t appear on his face as it was illuminated by the blue light of his screen. 

It was mindless, he was simply an observer when he wasn’t on the performing stage. As much as he loved performing for the masses, he couldn’t keep it forever. He needed to retain at least a fraction of his sanity, after all. In his daze, he hadn’t been paying too close of attention to many of the messages - so much of the same, it all blurred together. He saw the icons of users one by one- characters, colors, objects, drawings...and an unusual symbol. 

He didn’t know why it caught his attention - many other people had symbols as their false online faces, after all. Maybe it was because of the sleekness of the symbol, maybe it was because of the professionality it exhumed, maybe it was because there appeared to be a word or name integrated in text too small to discern in the small image.  _ Is this..is this a goddamn company? What’s going on - I’m not looking for sponsors at the moment... _

Upon looking at the nickname, that seemed to be the case. Stephen clicked on their icon for closer inspection, he saw an interesting image - fine, sharp-ended waves of color that seems to resemble a spiraling galaxy. Amidst the blues, violets, and contrasting whites, there seemed to be two planets connected by a waving, nearly S-shaped line connecting the whole theme. The company’s name wrapped around the logo in a circle - PARALLAX LLC. He saw the same name for the listed comment, and decided to pay them mind out of sheer curiosity. 

The message appeared to be an invitation of sorts - it said he was...qualified?  _ Qualified for what?  _ There was something vague about ‘hundreds of worlds to see, ready to meet you’... Stephen guessed this was some kind of travel company that managed to sneak an ad into the room. He was about to delete the message from both the stream and his mind, but then he saw a lot of messages connected to the thread. Out of sheer curiosity and an urge to shake things up, he clicked on it - comment after comment was laced in astoundment. Some were saying what a great honor the invitation meant, others were encouraging to visit the establishment...but they weren’t saying to go alone. They were insistent that his friends tag along. Hosuh was the most prominent name in the stream, but Gavin and Jay showed up here and there as well. 

_ Do they know about this too? _

The messages also provided the company’s address, as well as images of the building’s exterior - a tall, sleek looking rectangle of what seemed to be a main building, as well as two miniature versions of the center. If he had to guess, they were like wings of the building - why else would the hallway-like structures connecting them to the main building be there? There also appeared to be a cubelike building nearby - a third wing, perhaps? All the structures were donned in shiny white walls and accents of black and grey - the whole complex looked like something straight out of a modern or minimalist architecture or furniture design collection. 

_ So this place is legit _ ... _ Screw it, I have nothing better to do at the moment. _

And so Stephen read over the message again and went to the company’s website, a place as clean and sleek as the building appeared. The front page was unusually sparse, but Stephen wrote it off to the minimalist aesthetic. He saw a place to enter a code. He was skeptical about it, deeming the invite as sketchy as soon as he saw it- but he entered in the code provided in the company’s invitation anyways.

_ V10LET_CR0W _

The tab reloaded as he was taken to another page, new information unfolding before him. He looked at paragraph after paragraph, such wild claims somehow backed by explanations of science and technology. He grew lost in the pages for a while before the clock ticked late and he figured it’d be best to sleep this decision through…

The next day, Stephen decided to ask his brother and friends about this strange company. The comments had mentioned their names, after all - did they get similar messages too? He decided to open a group chat about the whole ordeal, and it wasn’t long before the others chimed in with the same question on their minds. For the next couple hours as they woke and prepared for their days, they exchanged the information they all got - and everyone noted the odd ambiguity in places. They really wondered about the credibility of their claims, especially with their sheer wildness. Some of their texts read as such…

_ Piss highlighter: I’ve heard a theory or two about the possibility of alternate universes. But they were just that - theories. _

_ Sonic: But Jay, the science did look pretty legit… _

_ Piss highlighter: mmm….I’m gonna look into some of the words they’re throwing around. Let’s see if this is all shit pulled out of someone’s ass. _

_ babey w/ a gun: Did you really need to say it like that? _

_ Piss highlighter: Hosuh- _

_ Sonic: What else did you expect from him? _

_ babey w/ a gun: Fair point.  _

_ Bigass Knife: Yeah Hos _

_ babey w/ a gun: Stephen, I- nevermind. What do you think about all this Gavin? _

_ Sonic: I’m honestly more curious than anything tbh. Things look real, I wanna see if they are. _

_ babey w/ a gun: But what if this is a scam. I wanna believe it’s legit, but… I dunno. _

_ Bigass Knife: True but.. Hos, we’ve got the weekend free with nothing better to do. Wanna maybe… check it out? _

_ Sonic: Gay _

_ Bigass Knife: I WILL FUCKING STAB YOU  _

_ babey w/ a gun: I… I guess? Um- you drive and pay for food and I’m alright with it.  _

_ Bigass Knife: Deal. _

_ Sonic: And I repeat: G a y _

_ Bigass Knife: GAVIN _

_ babey w/ a gun: Also Stephen, we’re bailing at the first sign of serious sketchiness, ok? _

_ Bigass Knife: Ok mom _

_ Sonic: Shame I can’t come with you. But hey - this gives ya a chance for a daaaate~ _

_ Bigass Knife: FOR FUCKS SAKE _

_ babey w/ a gun: I- _

_ Piss highlighter: So apparently- well first off, apparently it’s very gay in here _

_ Bigass Knife: NOT HELPING _

_ Piss highlighter: Shush - science shit’s real. Damn I wanna go there now tbh _

_ Sonic: HAHA- Oh yeah same. What a bad time to be booked, right? _

_ Piss highlighter: ye. Least they get to be disasters together tho _

_ Bigass Knife: I WILL STAB ALL OF YOU WITH MY NICKNAME- BTW WHO THE HELL CHANGED IT TO THIS ANYWAYS?? _

_ babey w/ a gun: I was gonna ask the same about me- _

_ Sonic: Umm. _

_ Bigass Knife: Screw it I’m keeping it. Hosuh, keep yours too it’s gold. _

_ babey w/ a gun: I- okay, just for now though… _

_ Sonic: Hell yeah. Have fun you two~ _

_ Bigass Knife: GET OUT THAT GUN HOSUH _

_ babey w/ a gun: I- yknow what? On it. _

_ Sonic: ah shit _

_ Piss Highlighter: And at this moment, Gavin knew: he fucked up _

_ Sonic: PPFFFTTTT _

_ babey w/ a gun: rip _

_ Bigass Knife: Begone you blueberry thot _

_ Sonic: ouch-  _

Stephen chuckled at his phone, closing the app and confirming the time with Hosuh.  _ Just a couple days, huh? Let’s see what happens…. _ Then he heard another  _ ping  _ sound - what’s going on now?

_ Sonic: OH GUYS WHAT WERE YOUR PASSCODES- LIKE MINE WAS A WORD AND UHH IDK IM CURIOUS _

_ Bigass Knife: Uhhhhhh…. V10LET_CR0W _

_ babey w/ a gun: S1LV3R_SN4KE _

_ Piss highlighter: I’m not giving this shit out for free _

_ Sonic: BLU3B1RD - also why tf not? _

_ Piss highlighter: I- dude I dont want you getting into my account _

_ Sonic: WE DONT EVEN HAVE ACCOUNTS _

_ Piss highlighter: but still Gav _

_ Sonic: JAY I WILL FUCKING GET YOU TO SPILL IT _

_ Piss highlighter: I’d like to see you try _

_ Sonic: FIGHT ME  _

Stephen decided to mute this specific group chat for now - he had to get on with the day at this point, but he was sure he’d end up laughing later.

Nights and days passed, and it was Saturday - this was it. Stephen pulled up the car in the parking lot out front of the sleek building. The sheer presence of the place, it invoked awe and intimidation alike. Both souls were a bit nervous, yet ever so curious and excited.

“Ready Hos?”

“Umm.. I mean we’re already here, why go back now?”

“That’s the spirit.”

And so the two made their way to the front of the building, walking past dark-tinted, automatic glass doors and into a reception room that matched the modern look of the exterior. The woman at the desk was wearing a lab coat and typing away on her computer, perking her head up at the sound of footsteps. The short figure beamed with excitement for a moment, her cheeks pushing up the frames of her glasses before she switched back to a more professional tone.

“Hello sirs. Please stand in front of the camera here- it’s just a security measure, we don’t keep the pictures.”

Stephen and Hosuh exchanged questioning glances before complying.

“Let’s see… Stephen Ng and Hosuh Lee, correct?”

Both males nodded- but before they could ask another question, the orange-haired lady was already talking.

“I’m sure you’re wondering how we got your names by your faces - we have a database of thousands of universes, and facial data helps narrow down the search real quick. Also filters in the possible clients you could be seeing. Let’s see… Ah, here we go!”

Her thin fingers tapped quickly on the keyboard, and shortly after a printer made a small whirring noise. She plucked the papers from the machine and handed it to the duo. She then stood up and gestured for them to follow her to the northern wing of the building. 

Stephen barley stifled a chuckle at the sheer stature of the woman - she was several inches shorter than himself, even with whatever height her wide heels were giving her. Hosuh gently smacked his arm before catching up to the seemingly excited woman, Stephen following only a second behind...


	2. World Hub

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how this odd facility operates...

Stephen and Hosuh continued walking down the hall to the northern wing, the whole thing as pristine and modernist as the rest of the facility as they passed by window after tall, rectangular window.

The young lady chuckled as they neared a set of large double doors, her voice somewhat giddy as she talked.

“You guys are in for quite the treat. You’re gonna have fun talking to these alternate selves of yours, trust me.”

Hosuh and Stephen each quirked up a brow as the lady pulled what seemed to be an ID card from her coat, attached to her neck by a simple black lanyard. They couldn't see much on the card, but they did see a picture of her face alongside her name- Tris. She held the card up to a black box on the wall nearby. A small beep was heard, the light on the box turned green, and the doors opened automatically. Pairs of blue and violet eyes went wide at the sight ahead, the emerald-eyed woman chuckling at their expressions.

The room ahead was something astounding. Immediately, there was another lobby-like desk - but just behind glass doors, there seemed to be a series of metal platforms from which safety rails sprouted up from. The boys could see rail-like tracks extending from the currently loaded platform extending over a dark space occupied by gears and machines under a series of rooms labeled with numbers and closed off in white walls and grey doors. There even seemed to be further rooms above, given the platform-sized hole in the ceiling surrounded in lights at the far end of the hall. The whole length was illuminated by lights down the center, as well as by a few faint, colored lights emitting from black boxes above each room’s door. Some were red, others green, yellow, even a few were blue. 

Another woman at the desk waved in greeting to her coworker and the guests before pressing a finger to her face, adjusting a pair of black-rimmed glasses over eyelids broken by long, thin scars. She waved a hand for the trio to come over with a smile, smaller scars on the edges of her lips rising in the process. The young ginger happily complied, with Hosuh and Stephen followed after a moment’s hesitance, ultimately spurred by curiosity.

Stephen leaned his elbows on the high part of the desk, a tabletop ceiling for a little shelf on the work desk. His voice sounded rather catlike, sassy and curious with a hint of skepticism as he looked down to the fluffy-haired woman.

“So I take it here’s the place we see these… ‘other selves’ of ours, right?”

She typed something onto her keyboard before looking up to the fellow purple-haired person with crimson eyes. “Indeed. That’s what this wing’s for - and the only place visitors end up.”

The phrasing didn’t stick right with Hosuh. “E-end up?”

“Er- sorry, that probably wasn’t a good way to say it...Hmm, this place... It’s where we guide invitees - this is where the show’s at, after all.”

“A show?”

“Well, I’m sure the interactions you’ll have between you and your other selves… They should be interesting, to say the very least.”

Stephen hummed in curiosity as the woman typed in some more things into her computer. Stephen noticed a similar ID card placed on the desk and held by another lanyard.  _ So you’re ‘Destiny’... _

Hosuh took a couple steps towards the glass doors. “...This is where you house our and other people’s selves, right?”

Tris nodded before gesturing Hosuh to take a step back. “Okay, but… why? The rooms look kinda small - why do you keep them like this?”

The woman at the desk donned the lab coat draped over her chair. 

“Quarantine. Helps keep any foreign entities from getting released into this universe. Objects, people, disease - it’s better to stay safe than sorry, after all. The science is complicated, but… Limiting what we call in from other universes and limiting how much they interact with our world helps keep spacetime stable.”

Stephen and Hosuh’s faces were definitions of confusion and bafflement. Destiny flinched for a moment before talking at a slightly faster pace than before.

“Um - A decent way to think about it is to imagine it like a video game or other program. The alts are like glitches in the system, docile and harmless when separated from the rest of the code - but they can wreak havoc the more they interact with the world code, whether they mean to or not.”

Hosuh’s head tilted slightly in questioning. “ _ Alts _ ?”

“A nickname. Something quick and easy to call ‘em.”

“Makes sense…”

Stephen twirled on his heel to his friend. “I’m surprised you didn’t get it, Hos. It’s pretty obvious dude.”

“Hey! She said it quick, I wasn’t sure.”

“To be fair, he’s got a point.” The small freckled woman spoke out as she opened what appeared to be a closet embedded in the wall. The boys hadn’t noticed it before, the door blending in with the other white panels on the wall. 

Hosuh had a somewhat concerned look on his face as he tried to see what the short scientist was doing. 

“Wouldn’t they be just as vulnerable as us? I mean, we’re as foreign to them as they are to us.”

Walking towards them and holding two germ masks by their elastic bands, Tris answered the question.

“Yes- that’s another part of this facility. Keeps stuff contained. Here, putting these on would probably be a good idea.”

The orange-haired woman handed a mask to each of the males. They took a moment to make sure the masks fit closely to their faces as the scientists explained the procedure. They would each step on the metal platform ahead, then be doused in a mist from little devices in the ceiling. They mentioned that the disinfectant spray shouldn't be harmful if inhaled, and that the masks were another safety and liability measure. 

“So.. what kind of shit are we gonna be seeing today?”

“Stephen-”

“Well…” The violet-haired woman stood up and walked towards a panel near the glass doors. “The universe we beamed in from today - it’s a medieval sort of world with some fantasy stuff going on. Think elves, dwarves, halflings, fey - that sort of thing.”

The small woman chimed in. “But there’s more than that, y’know? Like you know  _ your  _ alt in this world, she’s like this.. ‘devil-born’ or something?”

“Well, she  _ was  _ basically a person with the classic horns-thing going on. No tail, though.”

“Ah right -  _ was _ …” The orange-haired looked to the ground, her wide eyes and awkward smile clearly painting her regret in bringing up the subject.

The two boys looked at the women with confusion before the shorter of the two spoke. “I’m guessing you summoned your ‘alts’ here at some point or another. But you keep saying  _ was... _ Wait- can you like..  _ see  _ what happens to the alts after you send them back or something-?…” 

Hosuh looked at Tris and flinched - while talking, her face had scrunched up and she was.. clutching at her chest for some reason? Hosuh took a couple quick steps to her, his arms slightly outward in concerned alarm.

“Are you okay!?”

“Y-yeah, sorry.” She straightened up to her full height once again. She waved her arm towards Destiny in gesture. “I just hate thinking about things like… well, just bad stuff in general, not just the things that ended up happening to her. I know she’s fine, she’s right there, but...I just don’t like thinking like that, even the things are to happen in worlds besides ours.”

Hosuh hesitantly patted her shoulder in a comforting gesture, the young woman nodding in response. Stephen, however, was much less careful about the ordeal.

“How’d she end up dead, then? Was any of that fantasy stuff involved?” Stephen’s brows perked up in a flash of an idea. “Was she eaten by a dragon or something?”

Hosuh tried to reel in the violet’s impulsivity. “Stephen-”

Destiny’s body language gained timidity as she was getting up from the desk, exceeding Stephen’s height even with the minor hunch she acquired. “Uh, well… You’re not entirely wron-”

Red eyes fell upon a red face, Tris’s form looking like she was ready to strangle Stephen.  _ Ironic- _

“Hey Tris- calm down there, he wasn’t trying to be-”

Tris lowered her half-bent arms and relaxed her hands with a sigh, Stephen barley seeing her rage long enough to know it was there in the first place. “Insensitive? Yeah, well he still was. Doesn’t change the fact that I want to deck him right now.”

Stephen had a mix of emotions on his face, mostly of genuine empathy and remorse - but also a trace of amusement, given that he had to look down slightly to even meet her deep green eyes.  _ What could she even do to me anyways? _

Tris looked up to meet his violet eyes, boiling wrath behind the ivy tone. She spoke to him beneath her breath, Stephen needing to read her lips to understand her.  _ “Don’t underestimate me. I’ll steal your kneecaps, motherfucker.” _

Destiny let out a small sigh, a hint of annoyance in her breath. “Well I can’t deny that. But let’s not hurt our guests, that’s not what we’re supposed to be doing here. They came to see their alts, that’s what we’re in charge of at the moment.”

She walked over to another black panel near the door, holding up her ID card to its scanner and hearing another beep. She turned towards the mohawked man. “Speaking of, Mr. Stephen - do you want to go first?”

“I- I mean, hell yeah, but uh..” Stephen walked up to the now-opened glass doors, then lingered in the entryway. “You didn’t answer my question.  _ ‘I’m not entirely wrong’ -  _ So what parts did I get right and wrong?”

“Well… There aren’t really dragons in their world. They’ve got some fantasy-type creatures and even some magic, but not as much as some other worlds - works of fiction or alternate universes alike.” 

“Ah, gotcha.” Stephen hummed and stared at the metal platform lined up to the door. Just beyond the shiny surface, there was a deep-looking hole beneath teeming with gears and whirring machinery. He felt slightly intimidated and uncertain, but his intrigue and excitement to see what his alt was going to be persuaded him to step onto the plate. Once he was through, the glass doors behind him slid shut and a short safety rail popped up at the back of the panel. 

Thrill rushed through his veins - he was in for it now, and he was in it alone. The scientists explained that the decontamination process and the whole ‘glitch-control’ thing works best when visitors come in alone. That, and the panel wasn’t too large - he and Hosuh could definitely fit on it, but they wouldn't have much space between one another. 

Destiny’s voice came on over a speaker in the room. “Have fun now, y’hear? Also hold on to the rail - the yellow bits, they’re sensors. Things won’t start otherwise - it’s another safety measure.”

Stephen nodded and gave a little wave to Hosuh. Upon seeing the nervousness on his friend's face, he turned with a flourish in hopes of cheering him up. The faint giggling heard over the loudspeaker made him smile beneath his mask as he held onto the railing at his midsection.

He heard a beep, the signal to close his eyes. Squeezing his eyes shut, he heard a hiss-like sound before feeling a cool wave of mist wash over him. After running for a few seconds and waiting a couple moments more, he heard a second beep and opened his eyes as the platform began to move, his footing shifting at the sudden change in velocity. The panel moved slowly before transitioning to the speed of a fast walk. Stephen looked at the rooms passing by him. 

Each room looked about the size of a typical two-story house’s living room - it seemed on the small side to hold a person for a significant period of time, but he guessed that looks were deceiving, and that he was simply seeing the shorter side of rectangular rooms. All of the rooms were also marked in numbers and sealed in the same sterile white as the outside of the building. 

_ 04, 06, 08… 16, 18, 20- How far are they taking me? _

At about room  _ 30,  _ he noticed the rooms running out and the panel starting to slow. In a few moments, he was directly underneath the opening in the ceiling. Looking up at the lights, he didn’t notice the machinery rolling up its rail to the wall until the panel started to lift him to the next level. Once there, he was greeted with the same sight as before, with the exception of a ladder and a stationary platform at the end of the room. He presumed it was, again, for safety measures and if someone needed to get up quickly or in the event of a power outage or something. 

As the machinery spun and attached itself to the next main rail line, a small line of text appeared on a screen embedded in the metal bar, prompting him to take off his mask and throw it in a bin protruding from the wall behind him. Upon complying, the bin slid back into the wall and the panel moved again, slowing once he reached the late 50’s at the back of the room. The panel then took to a branching rail at the last room on his left - room 62. Stephen heard a click before the panel beneath him rotated, facing him in the opposite direction before the short rail behind him lowered once again. He turned to the black box above him, seeing it switch from green to blue and hearing a second click, this time from the door in front of him.

Presuming the door in front of him was unlocked, he turned the handle and felt the door shift. He pushed the door open and stepped into the room before him - this what what he and Hosuh came for, after all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Chuckles as I included the alternate versions of a couple of the 'various characters' in this chapter*
> 
> Also sorry for going for this long on the world-building -- for some reason, I find it tricky to write a story without having some explanation or inciting event that causes the shenanigans to happen.   
> But hey, looks like we're going to see the Stephens meeting up soon, don't worry!


End file.
